


To Do What it Takes

by findmethestars (Atunenamedclara)



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Emma Angst, F/F, Love, Love Confessions, Post-Canon, Sacrifice, Split Queen, s6, too little too late
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-23 05:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8316433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Atunenamedclara/pseuds/findmethestars
Summary: Regina was gone.Regina wasn’t coming back.Regina had died to save Emma, died to defeat the Queen.It had been the only way.She had done whatever it took.And Emma had promised her to do the same.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Post 6X04. Based after the revelation that the only way to end the "evil side" is to kill the good side. Written around that Swanqueen promise scene, because if that isn't worthy of some angst then I don't know what is.  
> I'm sorry (I'm not)
> 
> (Italics indicate flashbacks)

_Her sword clashed against the Queen’s, faster, harsher, louder with every stroke. Sweat pooled in her hands and her hair clung to her face, obscuring her vision._

_“Emma!!” Henry yelled at her from the side, warning her to duck just a second before it was too late. The queen swung again, furious to have missed her mark._

_Snow was next to her, just a few feet over, releasing arrows from her bow at a furious pace. David fired his gun again and again and again, until he had no bullets left to reload._

_Emma ducked. Emma dodged. Emma ran until her legs gave out, until she collapsed on the ground. She looked up, looked into the queen’s eyes, so similar to Regina’s and yet so different. The only thing burning in those eyes was hatred and bloodlust. Regina’s eyes burned with love. The difference was so subtle and so obvious all at once._

_And in that moment she knew. This was how it was to end. The Queen swung her sword down as Emma closed her eyes tight and-_

Emma awoke with a thud.

She had rolled off the side of her bed and fallen onto the cold wood floor. Her alarm blared in her ears and in the background, Neal cried impatiently.

She looked over at her alarm clock, wondering how late she was for work when she remembered. It all came flooding back to her in one harsh second, and she doubled over as the pain in her temple served as a reminder of the events of the week before.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the nausea away, waiting for the room to stop spinning as she did so.

Downstairs Snow and Charming were going through the motions of breakfast, but without the usual chatter and sickeningly sweet romance.

Henry was nowhere to be seen. He never was nowadays.

Slowly, so slowly, she stood up and walked over to her wardrobe. She picked up _those_ clothes, the ones Snow had bought for her, because Emma refused to have anything to do with it. That would have made it real. And Emma was still hoping it wasn’t.

Slowly, so slowly, she made her way to the bathroom, kicking 7 days worth of untouched clutter out of her way as she did so.

She was leaning over the sink, spitting toothpaste down the drain, when she caught sight of herself in the mirror.

Slowly, so slowly, she lifted a hand to trace the jagged line running from her temple to her cheek. The skin around the cut was still tight and swollen, and the stitches had yet to be removed. And it still hurt just as it had, one week ago.

_The Queen’s sword was inches away from her neck, seconds away from finishing the final battle once and for all. Emma resolved herself. She hoped Henry would understand. She hoped Regina would understand. And she hoped Regina would forgive her._

_The sword sliced through the air, cutting through the fog. And at the last possible moment, Snow had managed the impossible. She sent an arrow soaring through the air, slicing into the Queen’s side. The Queen let out a growl and turned to face whatever had distracted her. Emma rolled onto her side, not thinking, just acting. Anything to get away. The Queen swung too late. She missed Emma’s neck and instead sliced across Emma’s face, drawing more blood than Emma knew she had in her._

_And still Emma kept fighting._

Emma retched into the sink, the mint of the toothpaste not doing anything to hide the taste of bile as it rose in her throat.

She retched again and again, as if she could wash the memories away through her gag reflex alone. And then she sunk onto the cold tile of the bathroom floor, totally and utterly spent.

She stayed that way until soft footsteps indicated that somebody had come looking for her. Emma lifted her head, heavy as it was, and looked through lidded eyes at her mother standing over her.

“Oh Emma” Snow sighed, not with malice or frustration, but with kindness and understanding. Snow understood, more than anyone, what Emma was feeling.

Emma shrugged, looking back down at her hands. Her fingernails were bitten down to the bone, angry cuts around her cuticles indicated where Emma had clawed and scratched in her sleep, the memories escaping her dreams and entering her restless body.

But her hands were still, they didn’t shake anymore. They hadn’t for a week now.

_Emma held the sword in her hands, it felt as heavy and unfamiliar as it had all those years ago when she had slain a dragon to save her sons life. And now here she was, so different and yet unchanged, once more destroying an evil that threatened her family. Only this time she wasn’t sure her son would forgive her. She wasn’t sure that she would ever forgive herself._

_She had made a promise, weeks ago, promising Regina that she would do what it takes, do what she needed to do to keep Henry safe, even if it meant doing the unthinkable. But she had never thought it would come to this. Never dreamt, even for a moment, that she would be standing here now, sword in hand, ready to do what nobody else was able to do, because of a promise she made._

_“I can’t do this” she whispered, staring at the sword in her hand, watching as the queen swayed her way towards her._

_“You have to Emma!” Regina pleaded with her, vulnerability visible in her wide brown eyes “You promised!”_

_Regina grasped Emma’s arm, looking her in the eye, reading Emma’s fear as easily as she read her favourite novels._

_“You’re the only one who can do this Emma” Regina whispered, clutching Emma’s arm tightly._

Emma gasped, a shuddering sob ripped through her as she realised that the hand on her wasn’t Regina’s, but her mothers.

“Emma, oh my Emma” Snow murmured as Emma leant into her. Snow held her as she cried like she hadn’t cried in years, as her tears soaked the material of Snow’s black dress.

“I can’t do it! I can’t do it mom!” Emma hiccupped as her tears subsided, but the pain remained, not yet washed away by time.

And Snow held her, Snow understood. There was nobody else left to understand now.

Emma dressed quietly, the material of the shirt stiff against her skin. The wound on her head hurt less today, numb in comparison to the heavy pain Emma felt deep into her bones. Or maybe it was her soul.

The black of her clothes made her skin seem even paler than it was already, her cheekbones jutting out against the dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, limp and unwashed.

She stepped through the house quietly, until she entered the kitchen. David was standing in the mirror, adjusting his tie, deep purple silk standing out against the black of his shirt.

He turned around as he entered, understanding etched deep into the lines on his face. He looked as though he had aged in the past week. But then, hadn’t they all.

The purple of his tie shone in the sun, sending Emma headfirst into another memory she wished she could erase.

_The Queen was inches away from Emma again, the plan having worked to perfection. They had lured her deep into the forest, under the pretence of Emma giving herself up to die. It was a faultless plan and it was nearing completion. The final stage though, that was no longer down to Emma alone. Regina was to play an equal part. They would do this together, one final time, as they always did._

_Emma moved into the forest, plunging into the inky darkness of the night. The cover this gave her brought her an extra few seconds._

_“This way Emma” Regina hissed at her from the shadows, her voice shaking with nerves. The cool collected Mayor no longer, Regina allowed herself to show emotion, knowing how important her honesty would be in the coming days._

_“Regina” Emma whispered, her tears mingling with the sweat coating her face. This was it._

_“I never had the chance to tell you...all those times ago...”_

_“Regina please” Emma begged, knowing what was coming next._

_“No Emma! Let me finish. I have loved you... I have known I loved you from the moment I stopped hating you. I have been a coward and I have been foolish. And I need you to know...I need you to know I have always loved you and I always will. Remember that. Remember it when you need it most. I, Regina Mills, will always love you Emma Swan. I will be forever yours.”_

_Regina’s voice was thick with unshed tears.  Emma turned her head as the woman stepped out of the trees to stand with her._

_“Regina I...” Emma began, but she never got any further as Regina’s lips crashed into hers in one chaotic, beautiful moment._

_And then she was gone, slipping through the trees like a shadow in the night._

_Emma wiped her eyes, the unrelenting tears blinding her._

_She stood up straight. This was it. Soon it would finally be over._

_“HEY! YOUR MAJESTY! OVER HERE!” She called, her voice echoing across the forest._

_The Queen turned wildly, pleased to have finally found her mark. She swung her sword down fast, without stopping to check who was in its path._

_Regina fell, thick blood pooling at her feet._

_The Queen dropped with an agonized shriek, a similar wound spreading across her body. Too late, she had realised who was in her swords path. Her haste to end the saviour had been her undoing._

_And the Queen was not to pay this price alone._

Henry was standing at the entrance to the kitchen, a maroon tie in his hands.

“Ma can you...” he cleared his throat “Can you tie this for me?”

Emma crossed the room, shaking her head to try and clear the memories haunting her. Today was not the day to get lost in blame, in doubt, in thinking that she had done the wrong thing. She needed to be strong today. She had made a promise. A promise to do whatever it took to keep her family safe. And that was what she had done.

They filed into the rental car in silence, the black lacquer glistening in the light of day. It felt so wrong that the sun was beating down on her; Emma thought it should have been raining, the skies should have opened up, allowing her tears to mix unchecked with the rain.

Henry sat between Emma and Neal, who was for once subdued.

David drove, his fingers clutching tightly at the wheel. They took a new route to the cemetery, avoiding the large white house at the corner of Mifflin Street.

_Emma sat in the hospital bed, numb with shock and grief. The doctor kept asking her things, kept expecting her to know the answers, kept wanting her to say more. But everything had already been said._

_Regina was gone._

_Regina wasn’t coming back._

_Regina had died to save Emma, died to defeat the Queen._

_It had been the only way._

_She had done whatever it took._

_And Emma had promised her to do the same._

As Emma stood in the midday heat she closed her eyes tightly. David had echoes sentiments as he walked past her to wait in the shade, he had told her that death didn’t have to be meaningless. Snow had given her a hug, and had whispered that Regina would have been proud of her. Henry hadn’t said anything at all. He knew that everything had already been said. But Emma had one thing left to say.

“Regina...” she started, and then stopped as her eyes filled with fresh tears. “Regina...the last thing you said to me, you said that you will be mine forever. I want you to know that... I loved you, Regina Mills, from the moment I stopped hating you. And I will never stop. I will always love you. No matter what it takes.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> (Pssst. tweet me your opinions on this over on @findmethestars, or leave a comment to tell me how much you hate me)


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